Hillingdon London Borough Council

The sub-committee determined a premises licence application for a one-day outdoor musical event at SkyEx Community Stadium. Following withdrawal of all representations, the application was treated as unopposed and granted subject to the operating schedule and mandatory statutory conditions.

The sub-committee refused the premises licence application for the proposed Suez GAD Beats 2026 event at Harlington School Grounds. The refusal was based on insufficient detail and a failure to show how the licensing objectives would be met for a large-scale event.

A new premises licence was applied for by A and P Mehta Limited for The Smoking Jacket at the Old Forge, Brickmansworth Road, Northwood. The application covered the sale of alcohol for consumption on and off the premises, with amended hours discussed during the hearing.

The committee was told that budget monitoring updates would no longer come to this committee, because the council had voted to move all financial items to the audit committee. This changes the scrutiny route for spend and financial control, reducing the committee's direct visibility over budgets and shifting financial oversight elsewhere.

The external auditors confirmed the 2025/26 audit opinion will be a disclaimer because the council lacks sufficient assurance from previous years, not because of the current year’s testing. The focus is therefore on rebuilding assurance through closing balances and improving the audit evidence base.

Cabinet approved a £4.5 million, three-year commission for speech and language and occupational therapy capacity through Constellia Public Limited to appoint a specialist provider under a competitive process. The service is funded by a ring-fenced Department for Education grant and is intended to start in autumn 2026, supporting mainstream inclusion and reducing demand for more specialist placements.

The committee focused on the council’s first budget monitoring report of the year, including an overspend position, savings tracker reliability, capital roll-forwards, grant funding, and changes to fees, fines and policy linked to financial recovery. Members also debated how to strengthen scrutiny, improve reporting formats, and add training and governance around savings delivery, reserves and digital transformation.

Cabinet approved a new Hillingdon Growth Plan, a five-year Age Friendly Plan, support for adult social care prevention, and SEND therapy commissioning using DfE grant funding. The meeting also highlighted major housing and homelessness pressures, strong cost pressure reductions in temporary accommodation, school licensed deficit budgets, and the monthly budget monitoring position, including ongoing savings, inflation, and SEND-related risks.

The meeting focused on a year-one update from the Hillingdon Advice Partnership, a commissioned advice and signposting service delivering housing, debt, welfare and related support across the borough. Members probed value for money, capacity pressures, referral routes, digital exclusion, face-to-face access, complaints and the credibility of cost-avoidance figures, while officers also agreed to provide fuller performance data. The committee then moved on to agree a scoping approach for a major review of pharmacies and Pharmacy First, and discussed the cabinet forward plan and work programme.